


Photo Ready

by Fire_Bear



Series: PrUK Week 2018 [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Best Friends, Day 2, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Photographs, PrUK Week 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-21 02:31:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14906655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: With Francis's party coming up, Arthur and Gilbert are forced to go shopping for new clothes to suit their friend's tastes. Thankfully, a photo booth provides some distraction...





	Photo Ready

**Author's Note:**

> So the prompt for this one is Youth and I couldn't think of anything (except that I didn't want to do a kid fic) so I Googled the word and found two songs. The first one repeated a lot of its words but [the second one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYAghEq5Lfw) had a line about a photo booth, so...
> 
> Also, this is only rated as it is cause of a swear word. Dammit, Gil, why?

“I can’t believe he’s making us do this,” Arthur grumbled, arms folded.

“I mean,” Gilbert pointed out, “we don’t _need_ to. But then we won’t be able to go to the party.”

Arthur sighed. “Does he really think we’re gonna pick out anything good without him, though?”

“He did say we needed to learn,” Gilbert told Arthur, amused. “Are we gonna go in or not?”

Scowling, Arthur turned his displeasure on Gilbert. “Why are you so calm about this? Franny basically told us that our clothing taste sucks. And I don’t see why.” He gestured at himself. Gilbert allowed himself a moment to let his eyes wander up and down Arthur’s body. As was typical for Arthur when he wasn’t at school, he was wearing ripped, skinny jeans and a Ramones t-shirt, both of which were black. Over the top of his t-shirt, was an old, worn leather jacket, mostly intact. His Doc Martens were lined with green highlights, though Gilbert was never sure whether he bought them that way or decorated them himself. Around his neck was a choker, little metal protrusions making it look as though someone had cut off some spikes at the base. To Gilbert, he looked cool. More than that, actually, but he refused to entertain those thoughts for any length of time.

“Hm. Might be ’cause he thinks we don’t fit in with his other friends?” Gilbert suggested.

Arthur raised an eyebrow and looked Gilbert up and down. Gilbert wondered what he thought of Gilbert’s dress sense. He wore skinny jeans as well, a dark blue. His t-shirt was a slightly darker shade of the same colour with the words _New Phone, Who Dis?_ written in pink. A red shirt was over the top of it, a hole in the bottom left where he’d caught it on something months ago. He had opted for a pair of cheap Converses, red and high-topped. Was it too ‘dorky’ for Arthur’s tastes as well?

“His other friends should be trying to fit in with us,” Arthur said. “ _We’re_ the ones who’re his best friends.”

Grinning, Gilbert nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Fran just wants to flirt with people and ignore us, probably.”

“Urgh.” Arthur looked up at the designer place Francis had noted down for them, hoping they would actually listen and buy some new, fashionable clothes. He sighed and turned back to Gilbert, pausing to send a glare at a couple of girls who seemed to be ogling them nearby. Once they’d scurried away, he returned his attention to Gilbert and said, “Do you even have enough money to shop here? I don’t think I do. And all the places Franny told us about are high-end.”

“Nah. My allowance doesn’t cover this.” Gilbert paused. “Uh, not after buying those games.”

With a snort, Arthur turned on his heel. “Of course you did.”

“Hey!” Gilbert hurried after him. “What did _you_ spend _yours_ on, huh?”

There was a pause as Arthur debated answering. However, Gilbert knew he would; he always did when he asked him a question. “Books,” said Arthur with a sigh. “None of which I’ve started reading as I had some on loan from the library.”

“Man, maybe we should’ve asked for an advance on next month’s allowances, huh?” said Gilbert.

“Nah,” said Arthur, gesturing ahead of them. “That shop’s cheaper. And, look, they’ve got a sale on.”

Gilbert stared at what was essentially a meagre step up from a second-hand clothes shop. He looked at Arthur and raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think that’ll work?” he asked. “Fran’ll probably be able to sniff out what’s designer and what’s not from a mile away.”

“As long as we make it look good, he can’t complain,” Arthur insisted.

“Fine,” said Gilbert, sighing. He also rolled his eyes for good measure and that was when he saw it. “Hey, look!” he cried, pointing across the walkway.

Tucked away in a corner, out of the way of all the numerous shoppers, was a photo booth. The little screen set into its side flickered through its explanation, showing off stock photos. Gilbert had only ever been in one for his passport photos and the one time he’d dragged his little brother in to pull faces at the camera. He always thought they were fun and had planned to drag all his friends in before they graduated next year. Seeing one now excited him and he grabbed Arthur’s arm to drag him over to it.

“A photo booth?” Arthur asked as they reached it. “What about it?”

“Let’s go in!” Gilbert said, excitedly. “We can take before and after photos!”

“Why not just do it on our phones?” said Arthur, looking at the sign which declared the price. “This costs money, you know.”

“Yeah, but…” said Gilbert slyly, smirking at Arthur. “If we have less money, then we can tell Fran we couldn’t afford much and then we might be able to wear what we were gonna wear.”

“Huh,” said Arthur, tilting his head. “That’s…”

“Clever?” Gilbert suggested, cheerfully. “Genius? Brilliant?”

“Smart… for _you_ ,” Arthur replied, smirking.

Groaning, Gilbert pushed Arthur into the little box. “Urgh. Come on.”

They slid onto the little bench, Arthur seated beside the wall while Gilbert was nearest the curtain. He pulled it closed and turned to the monitor inside. Briefly, he glanced at Arthur. Raising an eyebrow, Arthur gazed back, nonplussed. Sighing heavily, Gilbert dug his wallet out of his back pocket and peered into its depths, searching for the right money.

“What were you planning on wearing, anyway?” Arthur asked as he shook out the coins stuck in the corners.

“Oh, uh, this shirt that says, ‘Party Time, Motherfuckers!’ but with an asterisk in place of the o and the u.”

“And you wonder why Franny doesn’t think your fashion sense is any good…”

“Oh, shut up!” Gilbert finally managed to pull out his money and leaned forward to wrestle it into the slot. “Besides, I figured he wouldn’t be around much to complain. You know he’s just gonna flirt with everyone till he finds someone who’ll flirt back. He won’t be paying attention to us.”

“You’re wrong,” Arthur said. He grinned at him when Gilbert looked up at him in surprise. “He’ll flirt until he can find someone to make out with in his room.”

Gilbert snorted. “Yeah, and everyone else’ll be making out in rooms, too.” He returned his attention to the money slot and finally inserted the note.

“Ah? Have you got anyone in mind for that, Gilly?”

“Nah,” Gilbert replied as he tapped at the screen, setting up the camera. “Depends on who turns up. D’ya wanna put dogs’ ears on?” Gilbert gestured at the example shown.

“No,” said Arthur, shortly. He scowled at Gilbert when he turned around to grin at him. “So does this mean I’m gonna end up alone at the party?”

He sounded so put out that Gilbert turned back to the screen to hide his blush. It really sounded as if Arthur had been looking forward to hanging out with Gilbert that night. Feeling bad, Gilbert chose the option for the camera to take five pictures one after the other. “I’d rather hang out with you, though,” Gilbert assured him.

“You’d rather hang out with me than make out with someone of your choice?”

“Well, yeah!” said Gilbert, squirming. He kept his head turned away but grinned, trying to inject cheer in his voice. “You’re way more fun than anyone else I know who’s going! What about you?”

There was a pause. “No… Wasn't planning on it.”

“Oh.” Gilbert let his finger hover over the ‘Ready’ button. “You ready?” he asked, quietly.

“Yeah.”

Quickly, Gilbert pressed it and leaned back. He settled on a normal smiling picture and left Arthur to his usual folded arms pose. Instead, he grinned widely and held up the peace sign, trying to decide on what they should do for the second picture. Something silly, like them using their fingers to make the other pull a face. Or they could turn around and moon the camera.

His thoughts were cut off when Arthur grabbed his arm. Surprised, Gilbert turned to him as he was pulled around. He didn’t have time to react to Arthur’s actions when he spotted Arthur’s free hand reaching out towards him. Gilbert’s eyes widened, confused and shocked, as Arthur cupped his cheek. Then, using the combination of his grip on Gilbert’s arm and the hand on Gilbert’s face, Arthur pulled him closer. He barely had time to register the way his heart skipped a beat as Arthur pressed their lips together in a kiss.

Off to the side, there was a click and a flash. Gilbert would have startled away from Arthur had Arthur not shifted closer, their knees knocking. At the same time, he moved his head, gently moving his lips against Gilbert’s. He responded instantly, kissing Arthur back just as fervently as Arthur kissed him. Arthur hummed against him and he let go of Gilbert’s arm to slide his hand around Gilbert’s back and pull him still closer. Willingly, Gilbert let him, tangling their legs together as he tried to move closer without getting up and breaking the kiss - he was too worried that it would all be over once he pulled away.

Instead, miraculously, Arthur deepened the kiss. His tongue swept over Gilbert’s lips and, with no hesitation, Gilbert parted them, craving Arthur’s tongue in his mouth. Arthur, of course, took the invitation, running his tongue over Gilbert’s teeth and the roof of his mouth before running it along Gilbert’s. The tasted of mint almost overwhelmed Gilbert. Unable to do anything but move his lips, encourage Arthur, Gilbert whimpered, wanting _more_ somehow. Arthur responded by curling his tongue around Gilbert’s and coaxing him into using it.

Slowly, they began to push their tongues against each other’s, a back and forth as their tongues slipped between mouths. Arthur nipped at Gilbert’s tongue and outright bit at Gilbert’s bottom lip whenever he retreated. Gilbert gasped breathlessly and obediently kissed him again, their tongues twining once more. He moaned, unable to stop himself, feeling himself react in other places. His face felt hot but he couldn’t bring himself to move back from the heat of Arthur’s body. In fact, Gilbert wanted to touch _more_ , wanted to move closer, wanted to feel and see Arthur’s skin. It wasn’t the first time he had yearned for more contact from the other boy but now it was amped up, encouraging him to clutch at Arthur, pulling him across the bench and sliding his hands under Arthur’s leather jacket. Arthur let him, the thumb on Gilbert’s cheek gently brushing against his skin; occasionally, the pad of his thumb slid across the corner of Gilbert’s mouth and, instinctively, he licked at it. Both of them shuddered when that happened, pressing closer still.

Eventually, they needed to breathe and they pulled away, though Gilbert made sure to stay close. His panting breaths probably fanned out across Arthur’s lips. Unbidden, his eyes were drawn to them, redder now than before. Arthur licked them and Gilbert nearly dove in for another kiss. However, a motion in the corner of his eye made Gilbert glance towards the screen: his eyes widened as he realised that the photo booth had finished taking its pictures - and they’d been kissing for the entirety of it.

When he looked back at Arthur, he couldn’t regret it. Arthur’s face was flushed, though he didn’t look particularly fazed, as if they did this all the time. His lips looked shiny and red and, when he ran his tongue along them, Gilbert’s breath caught. He bit his lip and looked away, well aware that his entire face was hot. Even his ears were tingling and he was sure they were red, too.

“I- Ar- Tha-”

“Yes?” said Arthur, raising an eyebrow.

“I just…” Gilbert trailed off, not sure what he wanted to say or ask. Was this something on the spur of the moment or had Arthur been thinking about this for as long as Gilbert had? Should he make a confession now? What did Arthur want, a casual thing or something more? For a few moments, Gilbert couldn’t get any words out. Then, finally, he managed to say, “Is… Is this a one-time thing?”

Arthur tilted his head, a smirk forming. “I thought that, since you want to hang out with me at Franny’s party _and_ you want someone to snog, I could be both.”

“Oh,” Gilbert said, faintly.

“We’d better get going,” Arthur added. “We'll need to buy something if we want to do an ‘after’ picture.”

Gilbert blinked. “You… You want to come back here?”

“Yes,” said Arthur, his smirk softening into a smile. “We can have fun here, with no-one staring at us.”

Delighted, Gilbert grinned. “We could just stay here and have fun instead of forcing ourselves to shop. If Fran won't let us in, we can go somewhere else that night.”

Still smiling, Arthur raised a hand to cup Gilbert’s face. Gilbert couldn’t help but lean into it, his eyes fluttering closed. A soft sigh slipped past his lips; he felt utterly at peace with the world, blissfully happy. He was expecting a kiss, maybe a chaste one, to begin with. Instead of on his lips, however, he felt something on his nose, a soft press of Arthur’s smooth skin on his as he pecked him there.

“No,” said Arthur and Gilbert was shoved away. His eyes flew wide as he tumbled from the photo booth, catching sight of Arthur’s amusement. The curtain dropped back down to shield Arthur as he sniggered while Gilbert pouted. But his heart was hammering and he knew that Arthur wouldn’t leave him high and dry later, not with the way Arthur was still blushing.

**Author's Note:**

> And then Arthur proceeded to bury his face in his hands and silently scream at himself for a whole minute before he exited, thinking things like, Oh, my God, I can't believe I just did that!!!
> 
> Also, they do go back for those 'after' pictures. They consist of them with different coloured tops (green for Arthur, red for Gilbert), lighter coloured jeans and sweatshirts tied round their waists - though you might not see that seeing as Arthur ends up straddling Gilbert as they kiss again. :D


End file.
